Radial split flow breeder reactor



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 June 18, 1968 Filed May 26, 1967 M at 0 20 J Z, ,0, mm m Urv0 w M nfl t M a? a. X v @H 5% a w y am 5 f 0% I/ l l l l l I I l l WM-HIHNIIIIIH I l l I I l l .I l k Z \IIJI llllllllllllllllllllll l lfl 8 3 w M June 18, 1968 E. c. KOVACIC RADIAL SPLIT FLOW BREEDER REACTOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 26, 1967 La Z 7 l w! y m w 1& f G v .1

United States Patent 0 3,389,054 RADIAL SPLIT FLOW BREEDER REACTQR Evan C. Kovaeic, Trenton, Mich, assignor to the United States of America as represented by the United States Atomic Energy Commission Filed May 26, 1967, Ser. No. 643,026 8 Claims. (Cl. 176-32) ABSTRACT OF THE DiSiILOSURE Discrete fuel particles are contained as a settled bed in an annulus formed between two concentric truncated conical screens. Liquid metal coolant is passed radially through the bed in direct contact with the fuel particles.

Contractual origin of the invention The invention described herein was made in the course of, or under, a contract with the United States Atomic Energy Commission.

Background of the invention This invention relates to a fast breeder reactor in which the coolant and fuel are in direct contact. More specifically, the fuel in the form of discrete particles is retained between two concentric conically shaped screens and the coolant is passed therethrough.

The future of electrical power produced by nuclear reactors appears to reside in the development of breeder reactors. Breeder reactors produce more usable fuel than they consume. The fuel in a breeder reactor may consist of uranium-235 or plutonium-239 or a combination thereof as major constituents of a core surrounded by a blanket containing uranium-238. During operation of the reactor, uranium-238 in the blanket is converted to plutonium-239 which then may be used as core material. Eventually both the core and the blanket must be reprocessed in order to recover the unused fissile material from the core and the newly produced fissile material in the blanket.

There are several problems in the design and operation of a breeder reactor that had not been encountered with other reactors. In a breeder reactor, large amounts of plutonium are intentionally produced for recovery and processing into fuel. Since plutonium is one of the deadliest elements known to mankind, extraordinary safety precautions must be used when handling large amounts of this material. As a result of this requirement practically of the reprocessing ope-rations are performed entirely by automation behind heavy radiation shielding. Because these operations are remotely controlled and plutonium is so dangerous, breakdown in the equipment presents a much more serious problem in plutonium reprocessing than it does in uranium-235 or irradiated uranium-238 reprocessing.

Another problem encountered with breeder reactors is in the choice of coolant. One of the few materials that can be used is liquid sodium, but it is opaque, becomes highly radio-active upon exposure to radiation and is extremely corrosive in the presence of impurities such as oxygen.

When conventional fuel elements, consisting of a fissile core surrounded by a cladding material, are used in a sodium-cooled reactor, fission products produced during irradiation present an additional problem. Conventional fuel elements generally operate at Very high temperatures so that fission gases and volatile liquid and solid fission products produced by irradiation boil off of the fissile core in the fuel element and collect inside the cladding. Fuel elements must be designed for collection of these gases and Summary of the invention The reactor of this invention utilizes a mobile fuel in direct contact with the coolant to avoid all the problems discussed above. The reactor has a plurality of fuel modules in which the fuel, in the form of small spheres, is retained as a settled bed in an annulus formed by two concentric conical screens. The coolant passes radially through the screens in direct contact with the fuel and thence out of the module. There are several advantages to this invention.

Since the fuel is mobile it is easily charged into and discharged from the reactor. Intermittent fluidization during operation aids in obtaining uniform fuel burnup and plutonium production. This is in distinction to conventional fuel elements which must be rotated in the reactor during operation in order to obtain uniform fuel burnup and plutonium production. Rotating fuel elements surrounded by liquid metal coolant requires sophisticated machinery unnecessary with the reactor of this invention. The process of loading and unloading conventional fuel elements is complicated and difiicult; so, excess reactivity is built into the reactor in order that fuel will not have to be added as fission products build up in the system.

Building excess reactivity into a reactor is bad for at least two reasons. The control system has to be more complex than usual because extra radioactive material is present in addition to the critical mass of fuel already in the reactor. More control equipment increases th core size, and the greater the core size the lower the breeding ratio. Also, excess reactivity means greater fuel inventory, therefore higher fuel costs, lower breeding ratios and larger doubling time.

riobile fuel can easily be loaded into and unloaded from a reactor and direct contact of the fuel and coolant removes any fission products vented from the particles. These two facts make it unnecessary to build in excess reactivity so that control requirements are reduced, core size is reduced, fuel inventory is reduced and breeding ratio is improved.

Brief description of the drawings The nuclear breeder reactor of this invention may be more readily understood by reference to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the reactor of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a fuel module therefor;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional View of the top portion of the fuel module shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the two levels indicated by the line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view of the bottom portion of the fuel module shown in FIG. 1 taken along line 5-5 in FIG. 7 and also shows a portion of the core support structure;

FIG. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view taken along the line 77 of FIG. 5.

low-pressure coolant outlet plenum 16 disposed at the top of the vessel it). A coolant outlet pipe 18 leads from lowpressure plenum 16 to a heat exchanger (not shown) and a coolant inlet pipe 29 returns coolant from the heat exchanger to high-pressure plenum 14-. Fuel slurry enters reactor vessel Ell through slurry inlet distribution header .22, located in coolant inlet plenum l4, and then passes to fuel modules 12 through slurry inlet pipes Slurry is discharged from fuel modules l2 into a slurry outlet collection header 26 from manifolds 213 through manifold outlet pipes 30. When slurry enters modules 12 excess carrier fluid discharges from modules 1? into low-Pressure plenum fie through separators lteferring rrxt to l elongated e sisting of f p 12 through slurry inle at the top of module The upper portion 0 with parti pipe is he by top plate so. circular in cross section and 35. e top of lower section is formed into a bath takin the form of a bunted cone with the nose pointed down. Fuel p rticles in the slurry entering sep rater Conical screens so and 52 are fastene to plate at the top of module are inclined inwar and upwardly,

may be made of sintered metal or double screens with a fine mesh screen on the inside hacked by a larger heavier mesh screen outside.

Referring now to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7, screens 99 and 51 extend from top plate 33 downward to annular trough a l in transition section 56. An annular orifice plate disposed at the bottom of annulus 18, separating annulus from trough Transition section so supports hexagonal wall 34 and transforms the hexagonal cross section of Wall into a circular cross section at the center of transition section 56. Transition section 56 is hollow and surrounds the bottom of coolant inlet chamber Coolant inlet chamber is bounded by transition section and inner screen Fuel modules Elf, are supported by fuel module support grid 62 which has circular apertures 63 tion 56 and is seated in circular apertures S idcr arms 6d extend between transition section 56 and a spider collar 66 which surrounds and holds slurry inlet pipe firmly in place n ar its lower end.

Coolant flow is upward through coolant inlet chamber oi then radially through inner screen 59, annulus and outer screen then upward throt h a coolant outlet chamber Coolant outlet chamber on is formed between outer screen and hexagonal wall and leads to lowpressure plenum l6 through coolant outlet ports 7:; in support plate as (see FIG. 4).

Fuel particles in annulus 43 are discharged into collection header through orilice plate 55 and trough 54-. Sir; slurry outlet pipes '72 lead from troug 54 in transition section through fuel module support grid 62 mo manifold inlet pipes "7 and manifolds 28. As shown in FIG. 7, manifolds include three T-shaped branches 2) which are 128 cegrees rt and joined at the bases of the Ts. inlet pipes '74 deliver slurry into the manifold at the ends of the cross bar of the l. in view of the her-L tal configuration of the fuel module, location of the center of ation, slurry is introduced into reactor vest cl ll) thron ry distribuion header From distribution header .he slurry flows into and upwardly through fuel e 12 via slurry inlet pipe 24. In separator 32 fuel pa .lcles contact bathe 3i and flow radially outward and downward through an lar opening 46 in support plate Excess carrier fluid in the slurry flows through aperin baffle 35 into upper section 42, through screen a into lorv-pressure plenum outlet 16. Screen 44 prove. ts any particles carried with the excess fluid from venting to plenum 16. After annulus is filled with it l particles, a sett ed bed is formed between top plate 3d and orifice plate 58. The fuel particles near the bottom of annulus have a tendency to pack, and orifice plate 58 has holes small enough so as to prevent a great many fuel par icles from settling into slurry outlet pipes 72, manifolds manifold outlet pipes and collection header 22 Conventional control means (not shown) are provided to maintain control over reactivity levels during the tures entire operation of the reactor.

fter annulus 43 is filled, the slurry inlet system is shut off nd the coolant system started. Coolant flows into reactor vessel ill through coolant inlet pipe 2t) to high-pressure inlet plenum Coolant enters module 12 through a channel formed by support cylinder 65 and flows upward through coolant inlet chamber 6d. Coolant flows radially through inner screen 5%, contacts fuel particles in annulus and flows from annulus through outer screen The conical shape of annulus 53 provides a large flow area for coolant to contact the fuel particles but a short coolant flow path in the bed. This unique feature is a particular advantage for reactor cores. The coolant which has been heated by contact with the fuel particles flows upwards in coolant outlet chamber as through coolant outlet ports 7% in support top into low-pressure outlet plenum to. The heated coolant is transported from plenum 16 via coolant outlet pipe it; to a heat exchanger (not shown). Coolant from the heat exchanger is returned to high-pressure inlet plenum 14 via coolant inlet pipe 20.

During coolant flow, some of the fuel particles in annulus expand past top plate into separator Any fuel particles which flow through apertures 46 in bathe 39- are prevented from venting to low-pressure outlet plenum 16 by screen 44 across the top of upper section of separator As in other mobile fuel systems for fast breeder reactors, intermittent fluidization is used to produce uniform particle burnup and plutonium production. Fuidization is accorrnlished by introducing carrier liquid or coolant through manifold and slurry outlet pipe 72. The bed of fuel particles expands into separator 32 and downwardly through slurry inlet pipe 24. After sufilcient mixing, inlet flow through manifold 28 is terminated and fuel particles in slurry inlet pipe 24 are forced back into annulus 48. Normal reactor operation is then continued.

An additional benefit derived from fluidization is that particle movement helps to prevent screens 5i} and 52 from clogging during operation. if screens Ell and 52 do clog during reactor operation, then fission products and other contaminants in the coolant can be removed prior to return of tl e coolant to higlnpressure inlet plenum 14.

The fuel particles may be uranium and/or plutonium containing ceramics; however, the dioxides are preferred. The ratio of plutonium or uranium-235 to uranium-238 depends upon whether the module is to be used as part of a core or a blanket.

ine physical characteristics of modules 12 do not change whether the module 12 is in the core or blanket but the chemical content of the particles and the ratio of fissile to fertile particles in annulus 48 do change. The coolant as well as carrier fluid for the slurry is a liquid metal. Lithium, sodium, potassium and combinations thereof may be used, but sodium is prefer-red.

The reactor described above has several advantages besides those heretofore mentioned. The particulate fuel and direct coolant contact therewith results in high heat transfer surface for the volume of fuel present. This allows high heat removal from the fuel particles with low heat flux at the particle surface. High power density is obtainable which permits smaller core volume, lower fuel inventory, and higher breeding ratio.

Power density increases and thermal stress on the particle decreases with decrease in particle size. For instance, a calculated power density for spherical particles 0.0 in diameter is 4647 kw./liter but for particles 0.01" in diameter the power density is 116,100 kw./liter. The problem is that the smaller the particle diameter the greater the pressure drop across the bed. Conversely, increasing the particle diameter lowers the pressure drop across the bed but increases the thermal stresses in the particle and decreases the power density. The above dilemma is solved to a degree by using a smaller particle diameter but at the same time reducing the bed diameter. This combination keeps the pressure drop across the bed down to reasonable values yet permits high power density. The reduced bed diameter benefits the breeding ratio, because it results in a higher ratio of core length to core diameter which increases radial leakage from the core. Since axial blankets are impractical with mobile fuel systems because of the associated piping, only radial blankets are used. Hence, the larger the radial leakage from the core, the better the breeding ratio. The following table sets out some of the design parameters for a 1000 mwe. mixed oxide reactor.

System: Radial split flow Doppler coeflicient, dK/ dz 6.7x F Specific power:

Core U+Pu, kw./kg. 134.1 Core fissile Pu, kw./kg. 1. Fuel mixture power density, kw./liter (25% overpower) 1538 Core power, mwt. 2200. Size:

Core diameter, in. 95.0 Core height, in 60. Temperature:

Core inlet, F. 900. Structural peak, F. 1406. Max. bed Na temp, F. (1600 F.

limit) at 25% overpower 1406. Max. particle temp. at 25% overpower 1632. Core outlet, F. 1200. Coolant:

Sodium flow, lb./hr. 83.4 10- Core pressure drop, p.s.i 75. Sodium velocity, ft./sec., max 50. Control material B 0. Fuel burnup, mwd./mt. oxide 100,000. Core loading:

Core fissile Pu metal -kg. 1,809. Core metal -kg. 16,395. Core ceramic -kg. 18,620. Fuel composition Plutonium composition, w/o- Pu-239 75 240 20 241 5 Uranium/plutonium ratio (kg. U/total kg. Pu) 5.3. Core volume 6974. Fuel fraction (solid) 0.255. Sodium fraction 0.708.

6 Steel fraction 0.037. Assemblies:

Number of assemblies/core 61. Assembly across flats, in 11.25. Fuel cartridge thickness, in 2.26. Fuel cartridge shape Hollow cone. Fuel material Mixed oxide. Density percent of theoretical 95. Density, gm./cc 11.0. Conductiivty, B.t.u./hr.-ft.-F 1.8. Fuel form Sph. particles Particle diameter, in. (mean) 0.050. Mode of operation, fuel circulation Continuous. Peak to ave. power 1 2.5. lMaximurn heat flux, B.t.u./hr.-ft. 2 260,000. Structural:

Material 304 SS.

llowable fuel thermal stress, p.s.i.

(max.) 25,000. Paste volume fraction ratio fuel/sodium /30.

1 Assumes for thermal and hydraulic analyses. 2 Occurs on particle surface.

It will be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein but that it may be modified within the scope of the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A fast breeder nuclear reactor comprising a high pressure coolant plenum, a low-pressure coolant plenum and a plurality of fuel modules therebetween, each module including:

a coolant inlet in communication with said high-pressure plenum;

a coolant outlet in communication with said low-pressure plenum;

means for maintaining a thin settled bed of plutonium and/or uranium containing particles between the coolant inlet and the coolant outlet, said means comprising a pair of truncated concentric conically shaped screens defining an annulus therebetween, said screens being inclined inwardly and upwardly; and

means for passing a liquid metal coolant radially through said bed.

2. The reactor of claim 1 and further comprising a slurry inlet pipe entering said modules at the bottom thereof and extending upwardly therethrough, a baffle at the top of said modules for distributing to said annulus plutonium and/or uranium containing particles entering said modules through said slurry inlet pipes and means for removing said particles from said annulus.

3. The reactor of claim 2 wherein the means for removing said particles from each of said modules comprises:

an orifice plate at the bottom of said annulus;

a plurality of manifolds;

a plurality of slurry outlet pipes between said orifice plate and said manifolds, each manifold receiving less than the total number of slurry outlet pipes from said orifice plates; and

means for fiuidizing said settled bed so as to allow said fuel particles to drain through said orifice plate.

4. The reactor of claim 3 wherein the plurality of slurry outlet pipes from each of said modules are six in number and each manifold receives two slurry outlet pipes from each module.

5. The reactor of claim 4 and further comprising means for admitting a slurry of plutonium dioxide and/or uranium dioxide particles carried in liquid sodium into said slurry inlet pipe.

6. A fuel module for a fast breeder reactor compris- 7 8 an elongated shell; through passes upwardly through the center of said shell, a coolant inlet into said shell; then radially through said bed between said concentric a coolant outlet from said shell; comically shaped screens and then upwardly to a coolant means for maintaining a thin settled bed of plutonium outlet from said shell at the top thereof.

and/or uranium containing particles in said shell, 5 said means comprising a pair of truncated concen- References Cited tic zortiically shaped screegsdefi nin g ainannuilis UNITED STATES PATENTS ere eween, sai screens en incirne inwar I and upwardly; and g 1 3,039,945 6/1962 Slack et al. 176-45 means for passing a liquid metal coolant radially E 23 5/1264 gusey U649 through Said 2, 79? /1/66 eilversteln 17645 7. The module of claim 6 and further comprising a 12/1966 Susskmd et a1 176-415 slurry inlet pipe entering the shell at the bottom thereof, FO GN PA extending upwardly therethrough, and means at the top of said shell for distributing plutonium and/or uranium 15 containing particles in a slurry to said annulus and for conducting excess carrier fluid in said slurry away from said annulus.

M CARL UAPFORT Pr'm Exam er. the module or claim 7 wherein said coolant inlet D Q I my H is at the bottom of said shell and coolant entering there- 20 H. BEHREND, Assistant Examiner.

845,804 8/1960 Great Britain. 946,114 1/1964 Great Britain. 946,901 1/1964 Great Britain. 

